After more than 150,000 miles of bluewater sailing, Peter and Jennifer Francis decided to design and build their own high-performance catamaran using a rigorous combination of computational fluid dynamics modeling, 3D design and manufacture, and empirical testing. The carbon-fiber vessel Saphira will depart on her maiden voyage from Cape Cod to Micronesia next year.
Peter Francis trained as a machinist and tool-and-die maker before entering the business world. He was board chair, president, and CEO of J.M. Huber Corporation; owned and operated three companies; and lived and worked outside the U.S. for nearly a decade. Francis graduated cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Middlebury College and holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
DESSERT WILL BE SERVED.March 2017

Please join us for a celebration of the life and legacy of John McMordie, a Product Realization Lab Teaching Assistant who was an inspiration to all who knew him.
We're creating a "John's Legacy" scrapbook. Please share a note, story, favorite picture--anything that reminds you of John and can be taped onto an 8.75” x 8.75" scrapbook page. Pages can be dropped off at the PRL Office, Room 102 in the Peterson Engineering Building.
If you have photos of John, please email them to iziebold@alumni.stanford.edu so they can be included in the reception slide show tribute.
Questions? Please contact Frances Yang at francesy@stanford.edu or 650.724.3586.October 2016

32 million disaster victims are made homeless each year. REACTION is making stackable, transportable, connectable, recyclable temporary homes for them. And they’ve raised $11M+ in seed and venture funds to do it. Hear their off-the-record account of how REACTION is transforming disaster shelter response.
The speakers: Michael McDaniel, the CEO and Founder of REACTION, was formerly with Frog Design. Mariel Lanas, BS ’13 (Product Design) MS ’15 (Mechanical Engineering), is the Design Engineer at REACTION and was formerly at Apple and Driptech.October 2015

Krista Donaldson (MSE Product Design ’98, PhD Mechanical Engineering ‘04) is CEO of D-REV,
a non-profit product development company that designs and delivers products to people living on less than $4 a day.
Donaldson led the release of Brilliance (a low-cost, high-quality phototherapy device that reduces the number of infant deaths and disability caused by newborn jaundice) and ReMotion (an affordable prosthetic knee that is worn by over 4,900 amputees in the developing world).
Donaldson has been named one of Fast Company’s 50 Designers Shaping the Future, is a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, and is the recipient of the General Electric Alva Award for "helping to shape the future by putting ideas into action.”
Before leading D-Rev, Donaldson served as a Diplomacy Fellow for the U.S. Department of State and guided Iraq’s economic policy and the reconstruction of its electricity sector.
Come and hear Donaldson's view of the growing impact of the engineering-design-social enterprise sector.May 2015

Mark Fuller is the co-founder and chief excellence officer at WET and creator of the fountains of Bellagio, Lincoln Center, and Waters Park for the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games. In this Meet the Maker session, Mark will discuss his work using water and energy to transform human connection with the elements, with each other, and with our inner selves.April 2015

Erica Estrada-Liou is a master at developing brilliant solutions that transform the lives of the least fortunate. In her one-hour Meet the Maker session, Estrada-Liou will give her inside view of how “design engineering” can tackle some seemingly intractable challenges in underserved communities.
Estrada-Liou is the co-founder of d.light design, a social enterprise that provides affordable light and power products to people living off of the electrical grid; Stanford Social Entrepreneurship Lab, which uses human-centered design to alleviate poverty and related social issues; and the developer of Design for Change: Poverty in America, a course in which students designed solutions to improve services for people experiencing homelessness.February 2015

Ken Martin (MS, Management Science and Engineering ’94, Biodesign fellow 2004-2005) shares his experiences applying the lessons of the Product Realization Lab to the care and feeding of startup medical device companies.
Martin is currently the President and CEO of Cibiem, Inc., a medical device company pioneering a novel treatment for hypertension and heart failure. Previously, he was the CEO of Sadra Medical, a percutaneous aortic valve company, which he successfully sold to Boston Scientific in 2011.January 2015

Robin Petravic MFA ’97 discusses the process by which he transformed HEATH Ceramics from a dilapidated factory to an industry juggernaut in California-made, artisan-created products of enduring beauty and purpose that enhance people’s livesNovember 2014

Matthew Lenoci MS '93 shares his insider’s look at MATTEO, the American sewn textiles manufacturing company he founded in 1996. MATTEO is one of very few textile manufacturers left in the United States. Matt will share his story of what MATTEO is doing to help re-awaken the spirit of “Made in America” while creating jobs and building community in East Los Angeles.October 2014

What‘s the NEXT BIG THING? The next generation of Product Realization Lab grads—the NEXPERT MAKERS!—who are transforming our world will share their triumphs, tribulations, and telescopic views of the future with panel moderator SilverLake Kraftwerk Managing Director Adam Grosser.March 2014

Bitcoins aren’t the only superhot cryptocurrency making headlines! In the immortal words of Gordon Gecko, GREED IS GOOD!
Stanford Mechatronics students created BITBOTS that battle for BOTCOINS!
Come see the victorious BITBOT walk off with all the SAMOLEANS!March 2014

Meet Chris Haughey, the Co-founder and Head Elf at Tegu. Headquartered in Honduras, Tegu is a global pioneer in creating and manufacturing sustainable, joy-enhancing, community-building toys.
In this Meet the Makers Expert Session, Haughey will share his triumphs, tribulations, and telescopic view of the future.February 2014

KIRK HAWKINS is a former F-16 fighter pilot, seaplane instructor, SCUBA diver, and founder and CEO of ICON Aircraft.
Fortune called the ICON A5 aircraft “the Ferrari of the skies” and likens low-altitude sport flying to “off-road airspace for pilots who don’t want to fly at 30,000 feet going Mach 0.8.”
Hawkins will share the triumphs and tribulations of launching this pathbreaking venture, as well as his telescopic view of the future of recreational flying.February 2014

MICHAEL TOPOLOVAC, serial entrepreneur and creator of products that range from photography and sports gear to sex toys, will share triumphs, tribulations, and his telescopic view of the future.January 2014

PETER DREISSIGACKER, founder and CEO of Concept2, is the creator of the first viable, affordable composite racing oar, and designer/manufacturer of the best-selling rowing machine in the world.
Of the 84 boats that made it to the finals in the 2012 Olympic Games, a total of 59 were rowing with Concept2 oars.January 2014